4 ms·

When was the last time Microsoft did something user centric? Microsoft is a (very successful) enterprise software and (aspirational) advertising and data harves

When was the last time Microsoft did something user centric? Microsoft is a (very successful) enterprise software and (aspirational) advertising and data harvesting company. There is not really any thought given to users, and almost every change from Win 95 forward has been worse for users. This has not hindered their business and has probably improved it. If you want stuff for the good of the user, get a mac. I don't mean this as a judgement per se, it's just different business models. I use Office 365 for my business and imo it's the best available choice, but it's definitely not built for its users.

quantified 4y ago
Windows increments from 95 to Win 7 seemed to improve things (not everything, amazing stasis in some places). I like that the UI was more consistent, more attention to things like Fitt's law, fewer secret gestures and better keyboard/mouse parity on the OS/GUI aspects than Mac. Since 7, seems downhill. So to answer your question: "Since Win 7 came out".
- etempleton 4y ago
  I don’t even know if they cared then. 7 only existed because Vista was an unusable nightmare for the first year and they had to do some damage control. They then followed 7 up with 8, an operating system where all early impressions and user testing indicated users would be bewildered and confused and they still pressed forward with it. You could argue 3.11, 95,98,2000 releases were good, but beyond that Windows has been up and down with their releases.
  - quantified 4y ago
    For debate class, I could argue those releases were good, and 2000 improved on NT4/95, but I can't argue from belief.
    - etempleton 4y ago
      Neither can I, but they were solid enough. A lot of people like to talk about how good XP was, but that is rose colored glasses and ignoring where OSX was at the same time, which, while not without issues, was a much more modern operating system. Never mind the security issues of XP pre SP2. Antivirus software became commercial products because XP was so insecure.
etempleton 4y ago
The Xbox division is pretty user centric / user friendly these days, but the Windows and Office side has never seemed to care if the consumer liked their product, just that they tolerated it. Makes sense. They don’t sell to consumers. They sell to OEMs and Enterprises. In fact, I can’t think of a time the company has cared about consumers or really even the consumer experience beyond it being good enough for users to tolerate and not demand something different.

quantified 4y ago

Windows increments from 95 to Win 7 seemed to improve things (not everything, amazing stasis in some places). I like that the UI was more consistent, more attention to things like Fitt's law, fewer secret gestures and better keyboard/mouse parity on the OS/GUI aspects than Mac. Since 7, seems downhill. So to answer your question: "Since Win 7 came out".

etempleton 4y ago
I don’t even know if they cared then. 7 only existed because Vista was an unusable nightmare for the first year and they had to do some damage control. They then followed 7 up with 8, an operating system where all early impressions and user testing indicated users would be bewildered and confused and they still pressed forward with it. You could argue 3.11, 95,98,2000 releases were good, but beyond that Windows has been up and down with their releases.
- quantified 4y ago
  For debate class, I could argue those releases were good, and 2000 improved on NT4/95, but I can't argue from belief.
  - etempleton 4y ago
    Neither can I, but they were solid enough. A lot of people like to talk about how good XP was, but that is rose colored glasses and ignoring where OSX was at the same time, which, while not without issues, was a much more modern operating system. Never mind the security issues of XP pre SP2. Antivirus software became commercial products because XP was so insecure.

etempleton 4y ago

The Xbox division is pretty user centric / user friendly these days, but the Windows and Office side has never seemed to care if the consumer liked their product, just that they tolerated it. Makes sense. They don’t sell to consumers. They sell to OEMs and Enterprises. In fact, I can’t think of a time the company has cared about consumers or really even the consumer experience beyond it being good enough for users to tolerate and not demand something different.